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The Political Animal

In this morning’s 6 am hour, your Capitol Hill reporter, Dave McConnell, excused Sen. Robert Byrd’s long-ago active membership in the KKK as simply being “something that had to be done in West Virginia back then to get ahead in politics.”

No doubt. But what does it say about Mr. Byrd that he willingly championed reprehensible ideals just “to get ahead in politics”? And what does it say about politics that it attracts men and women, such as Mr. Byrd, who will sell their soul to the devil in exchange for the tawdry glory of winning elected office?